15 January,2024 03:03 PM IST | Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar | mid-day online correspondent
Manoj Jarange. File Pic
Maratha activist Manoj Jarange on Monday said that he would launch an indefinite fast for quota in Mumbai on January 26, either at Azad Maidan or Shivaji Park ground, reported the PTI.
"Maratha community members will set out for Mumbai from Antarwali Sarati village (in Jalna district) on January 20. Part of their journey will be on foot and the rest using vehicles. Our target is to reach Mumbai by January 26," he told reporters in Antarwali Sarati village, the ground zero of the Maratha quota agitation led by him, according to the PTI,
I will start walking from Antarwali Sarati village on January 20, he said.
Manoj Jarange shared the plan for the upcoming agitation at the press conference.
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"Agitators will start from Antarwali Sarati at 9 Am on January 20. They will walk till noon every day. Later they will board vehicles and proceed towards their next destination for a night halt," he added, as per the PTI.
Marathas have been holding protests for reservations in government jobs and education under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.
Meanwhile, earlier in November last year, Manoj Jarange had concluded his nine-day-long indefinite hunger strike for Maratha quota benefits, according to a PTI report. However, he issued a warning of a larger protest if no action was taken within two months to fulfil the community's reservation demands.
According to the report, Jarange declared that he would lead a massive march to Mumbai if the government failed to make a decision within two months, stating, "Then people of Mumbai won't even get vegetables."
This announcement was made at the fasting site in his Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district after four state ministers met with him and requested an end to the hunger strike.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, speaking to reporters in Mumbai later, expressed gratitude to Jarange for ending his fast. Jarange, though, emphasized that the Maratha quota agitation would continue, including relay fasts, and he urged the government to make a decision by December 24. While the ministers suggested extending the deadline to January 2, Jarange remained resolute, stated a report.
(with PTI inputs)
